How To Save A Life
by Pekenota14
Summary: A little girl comes to kill Natasha, but the woman is perplex looking at the girl. That blonde kid standing before her is a clone of herself... And even worst, they have cloned a teenage Bucky as well. (Post CATWS, Clintasha in the story)
1. Chapter 1

Natasha wished she could say that having a gun pointed at her face was something terrible, but she couldn't. It was part of the job. It could be compared to a routine, actually. And even more Natasha wished she could say that having a child pointing a gun at her face was something terrible, but she couldn't. She had seen it, far too many times to make her lose faith in all humanity for still using defenseless and innocent children as pawns in their worthless games of power… just like she was used as well.

The little girl, about six or seven of age, stood at her doorstep, barely holding the gun in her hands. Her green eyes seemed darkened by fear of the unknown. She was just a child; she didn't know what would be the outcome of pointing a gun at an adult. Her lips were pressed together in anxiety and her breathing was fast. The little girl was nervous, much like Natasha. The woman couldn't believe her eyes. Still, she tried to remain calm as he brain formulated plausible answers for her doubts.

"Can you give me the gun, please?" Natasha said softly, ducking to be at the eye level of the blonde girl.

"Can't…" the little girl told her, nodding her head.

Natasha removed the gun of the girl's hands. "Is somebody after you?"

The girl shrugged, "They say they're always watching me and they sent me after you."

"Want to come in and have something to eat?"

The child nodded her head and approached Natasha with small steps, "I'm hungry."

"Anything you want to eat I can get you," The redheaded told the girl, offering a small smile.

Natasha was a complete wreck, not knowing what to do. Walking from side to side, waiting for Clint to pick up her call, Natasha watched the girl devouring food like if she hadn't eaten in days. So far she had had two sodas and was finishing a pizza, and was saying how she could still eat something more. Clint finally got her call and Natasha was discreet and told him to show up at her house because the matter was serious.

Once three light knocks were heard Natasha walked to the door. When she saw Clint her chest filled up with air, truly glad to see him.

"What is going on? I came as soon as I could." With a slight head movement, Natasha pointed the girl sitting at the kitchenette chair, swinging her legs as she was delighting in with a pizza slice. "Who is she?"

Natasha took a deep breath, eyes put on the little girl, and said, "She's me."

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**Reviews are always nice. I'm sure you're all intrigued. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I know you were intrigued and a bit confused, so I hurried up in writing this second chapter. Hope it gets more appealing now that you know what's going on.**

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"_What is going on? I came as soon as I could." With a slight head movement, Natasha pointed the girl sitting at the kitchenette chair, swinging her legs as she was delighting in with a pizza slice. "Who is she?"_

_Natasha took a deep breath, eyes put on the little girl, and said, "She's me."_

"What do you mean she's you?"

Natasha grabbed Clint's arm strongly enough to give him a bruise and dragged him, so that the girl wouldn't listen their conversation. "She's me, what part didn't you understand? While I was KGB, they did experiments on me and many other orphan girls-"

Clint cut her speech, "Yes, the Red Room, I know."

"The Red Room is still active, now known as 2R."

"What does it have to do with this kid being you? Is she an orphan too?"

"The girl sitting over there is me. They took DNA samples from me."

"A clone?" the man frowned as he looked back and quickly studied the girl's features, "You're saying the Red Room created another you?"

Natasha at first only nodded her head; she herself was incredulous, "That kid is me. The doctors at Department X always said that I was special, but I was brought in much too late for them to success in manipulate me completely. When you recruited me, they let me go rather easily, don't you think? They could have pursued and killed us both, but they didn't… I was no longer necessary for them because they were busy creating my clone, molding her and making sure they wouldn't commit the same mistakes they did with me."

"Alright," Clint massaged his forehead, taken aback by all that information "and what do we do now?"

"I don't know…" Natasha confessed, "but they're following her moves so it won't delay having them breaking into the house. Got your gun?"

"Like I go anywhere without being armed."

"When they walk in, we have to be fast. We kill them and we walk out of here, right away. And we take the kid with us."

"Where do we go?"

Natasha didn't answer him; she didn't know the answer either. She made her way to the girl and sat across from her. "You're still hungry?" the girl nodded a no. Clint took a seat next to them, watching Natasha questioning the little girl. "Do you know your name?"

"Number Two" The kid answered undisturbed "that's how they call me."

Something greater than fear took over Natasha's face features, pure panic. There was another one before her. "Do you know who Number One is?"

Obviously Natasha didn't get an elaborate answer; the girl didn't know how to explain her who Number One was. "It's a boy and he's helping me on the mission too."

"Uh" Clint started, visibly puzzled, "a mission?"

The child firstly nodded and then said, "Yes, my first one."

He carried on as Natasha was looking for something on her phone. "What is your mission?"

"Mission status: Romanoff, Natasha; alive. Time due: three days; mission in progress…?" The girl let out that question; she didn't know what to think anymore. The preliminary effects of brainwashing were disappearing and allowing her to think normally.

Natasha showed the girl something on her phone "Is Number One in this photo?"

The girl nodded affirmatively but Natasha didn't have time to show Clint the photo because a noise came for outside the door. The two grabbed the guns and got up slowly.

"Get under the table," Clint whispered to the girl.

The two positioned on each side of the door, expecting the door to be open and start shooting. Three men showed up, and Number One as well. He was a teenage boy, blue eyed and brown haired, age of fourteen, armed with two guns and a knife in his pocket. He was far more evolved than Number Two already. While Clint was busy shooting at the three men, Natasha engaged on a fight with the teenager and disarmed him. Being confronted with the fact that he had his weapons removed, the teenager's eyes quickly inspected the room and found the girl ducked under the table.

"Вставать, пойдем!" **(Get up, let's go!)**

The little girl came out from under the table and the boy held tightly her hand, walking to the door.

"Hold it there," Natasha said, pointing her gun at the boy "you two are coming with us." Tilting her head, she signaled Clint to separate the boy and the girl. "Your car is close by?"

"Yeah," Clint answered taking the girl by hand "parked in front of the building."

Natasha pressed the gun on the boy's nape and made him walk in front of her, strongly grasping his left arm so he wouldn't run away. They put the two kids in the backseat and locked the car once they were inside as well. Clint took the wheel and started driving, not knowing exactly here, but just away from there. In Natasha's apartment they left the three men dying.

"Ты в порядке? Разве они тебе больно?" **(****Are ****you ****okay****? ****Did they hurt you?)** The teenage boy asked in a low voice, looking at the little girl.

"Никто не пострадал," **(No one is hurt.)** Natasha said, looking him in the eyes through the rearview mirror. "I know six different languages and if you try anything, I can hurt you big time, so don't even think of doing a thing, kid."

The teenager looked at her, his gaze matching hers and so he hushed and sank on the seat. The two kids ended up falling asleep and when they did so, Clint asked on a low voice. "Who's he?"

Natasha pulled out of her phone and showed him the same photo she had shown to the little girl. Clint saw a teenage Steve Rogers with his arm put around his best friend's shoulders, James Barnes. Looking through the rearview mirror, Clint acknowledged the similarities between them and sighed. The Red Room doctors had cloned Bucky as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Clint parked across from his apartment and once the engine was off, the two looked back. The kids sleep peacefully and it'd be best if they continued to, so Natasha picked up the girl in arms and Clint carried the teenage boy. The children were laid over Clint's bed, still sleeping and he even took the care to put a blanket over them.

"I've got a plan," Clint said as they left to the living room. "we create fake identities for the two of them and hand them over to CPS."

"It would have been better if I had shot them both, but that's actually not a bad idea. The girl is showing signs of recovering from any brainwashing and the other kid will be fine in a matter of a few days."

"And what about the Red Room?" Clint asked cautiously. "What will you do about it?"

"I'll take it to Fury and Hill and let them do whatever they believe it's best. I'm on the spotlight after having had exposed all my secrets and I need to be in the shadow for some time. Besides, I just nearly died and I want to take a breath and rebuild myself. I don't mean to run away from you to lick my wounds and come back to you when I'm fully ok."

"I'm sorry. I've brought you from some place bad and brought you into another fox hole."

"No one knew what was happening. If we did, none of this would be happening. I don't want you to feel guilty for anything, Clint, because you're not to take the blame for anything… This time in the dark will do me good… I think… I can be Natasha, whatever that means. But I'm sure you'll help me figuring it out, right?" Natasha looked at Clint and noticed he was very quiet, staring at the floor. "What?"

"I… I have a work to do in two days in Italy."

"Outside job?"

"I've been working outside jobs since New York. I didn't know if I could cope working for SHIELD."

"Clint," Natasha grabbed his wrist, making him raise his eyes, "New York was two years ago…"

"I spent a year recovering and then another year all alone."

"You know damn well I would have taken you to that mission if I could."

"Go check on the kid," He told her, seeing the teenager sat up on bed.

Natasha watched Clint sinking down on the couch and not even looking at her. She boiled up with anger and looked at the bedroom, seeing Number One sat up on bed, heavily breathing. She knew what that meant.

"It doesn't matter what you do," Natasha spoke softly, "they just don't stop yelling." Number One looked up at her, deadly eyes gazing her. "I've been there before…" She confessed taking a seat on the edge of the bed "there's only screams and pain and your head is the biggest mess."

"How do you shut it?"

"You think about what you like the most. I used to think about dancing, but then I found out I had never been a ballerina, like they made me believe. Nothing made sense anymore and pain was unbearable until the day they stopped brainwashing me. I must have been about your age; they said I was old enough to think by myself… In five years they brainwashed me forty-three times, and unlike what people believe, it doesn't get easier with time. Every now and then I still have nightmares."

"What do you do now, then?"

"I still think about what I love the most and hold on to that thought until I fall asleep again." Natasha casted a glance at Clint, faking to be sleeping on the couch at the living room, "Why the decision of sending you two to kill me? Why now?"

"They said it was time. This is Number Two's first mission and once you released all of your secrets, they got pretty pissed."

"Clint helped me breaking free, recruited me. I want to help you too as well."

"Do you?" Number One clenched his teeth, angry, "Do you really? Because just a while ago you were saying that it'd have been better if you had shot us both. Spare us the time, do it now."

"I won't kill you. I've got enough blood on my hands, some of which I can't wash off anymore. Clint saved my life; let me do the same for you."

"For what? So you can feel better with yourself?"

Slowly Natasha rested her hand over the teenager's leg, "The brain regenerates itself if not manipulated. In a matter of days, you'll remember each and every thing they have ever tried to make you forget. But you'll get an immense sense of peace. Like you've never had before. And… I'm sure that you'll recover just fine and start something new in your life. You just have to let me help you… Do you have a tracer?" Number One nodded and presented his left arm. Natasha pressed her fingers over his wrist, feeling a small micro implant under his skin. "Mine was in the same place as yours. Does she have one too?"

"Not yet. They'd put her one if she'd success on the mission. If not…"

"They'd kill her," She said on a whisper "I know. Are there more like you two?"

"No, but maybe they'll create more kids like us. I don't know…"

"It's okay. Tomorrow morning we'll rip off that tracker and get you two identities."

The boy lowered his eyes to his hands, resting on his lap, and started playing with his fingers, "I don't even have a name."

"Think of a name you like. Or one you've heard. Anything."

"Christopher," His voice came out as a whisper "I like Christopher."

Natasha smirked a little and stretched her hand at him, "Nice to meet you Christopher. I'm Natasha. Now get some sleep, tomorrow day will be hard."

Number One lied down in bed, pulling the blanket closer to him. "Natasha?" he whispered before she left the room. "I'll remember _everything_?"

"Yes."

"And will I forget about those things?"

"Yes, if you try hard enough to bury them in your core and never bring them up again."

Natasha decided to stroll the apartment; compulsive defensive habits die hard. On the hall of the living room she found innumerous papers taped to the wall and she turned on the lights to read them. Clint got up and she looked at him. All of those papers were regarding her, Captain, the Winter Soldier, everything was about Natasha's mission. He had been keeping track of her while she was away.

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**Reviews are always nice.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A chapter that contains only Clintasha. I really hope Joss Whedon gives us a little bit of this on Avengers: Age of Ultron.**

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_Natasha decided to stroll the apartment; compulsive defensive habits die hard. On the hall of the living room she found innumerous papers taped to the wall and she turned on the lights to read them. Clint got up and she looked at him. All of those papers were regarding her, Captain, the Winter Soldier, everything was about Natasha's mission. He had been keeping track of her while she was away._

With a few papers in hand, Natasha turned around, her eyes focused on Clint's, wanting an explanation. She couldn't bear if he may have sunk down and got worst while she was gone for the whole year. "A couple of calls during a year weren't enough," he explained.

"I wanted to call you more often, to tell you more but… things turned chaotic and when I realized, everything was happening, all too sudden."

"I wanted to be there to help you, but" Clint said, looking down. "as I couldn't, at least I'd keep track of you. To know what to do, where to look for you in case things would go wrong."

Natasha walked closer to him, but still keeping a distance. "I wanted you to be there too but-"

"Why didn't you say you were back?" Pain was swimming in his eyes, pain and some rage. "I only learnt about everything when your hearing was all over the news. Were you gonna run away from me?"

"No…" Her right foot attempted to take a step forward but her brain stopped her. She was about to knock down another wall that had been keeping her protected for so long, she might as well use the little distance. Just for the time being. "While I was away I could only think of you and my main concern was keeping you safe. I only called you now because I didn't know how to handle this… I didn't mean to put you in the harm's way before, but now I'm here and I'm here to stay for good. Or at least I thought so, but you're off to Italy."

"Tasha, my house is your house. You stay here whenever you want, for as long as you want. I'll be back soon and I'll come to you." Again Clint looked down but took some steps forward and held her hand on his. He needed to make that question; it had been daunting him for far too long. "You exposed everything about everyone and now they're on the hunt to find out who are the double agents. When you made that decision… did you ever think I was-"

"No." Natasha firmly said, tightening his hand. "Not for a second, Clint. That thought never crossed my mind, ever." She leaned forward to kiss him, but he backed down.

"You… and him…" Clint murmured, eyes fixated on the photo on the wall, the photo of the one everybody considered a ghost, a myth; the Winter Soldier.

"Me and him… yes." Natasha looked back as well and then ripped that photo of the wall and dropped it on the floor. "I was taught by him, we were involved, briefly. A long time," She made sure to tell him. "and everything was over back then."

"How can I know that it's all over? You just met him again, he's broken, misplaced, needs help. How can I be certain you won't look for him?"

"I'm different than before," Slowly Natasha unzipped her jacket and stripped it off, making her necklace noticeable. "You marked me, Clint."

When Clint's eyes stopped on her neck, he saw the arrow sitting there, unnoticed for the ones that didn't pay attention to see it. But he did. Immediately. His look shifted to her eyes, the intensity of his gaze changed and his chest burnt, begging for air. The kissed started hungry and desperate and it led to them leaning on the wall, lost on a never-ending kiss. Then it softened as they recovered their breaths. His kisses turned into mere lip caresses all over her face as one of his hands rested on her hip and the other one letting his fingers dug into her hair. Natasha leaned her head back on the wall, her lips were parted and her eyes shut, taking in the affection and passion of his slow and soft kisses. Clint started going down, trailing wet kisses on her neck until she tried to stop him. Tried, because his head seemed to weight a ton and her hands were weak; the two wanted it more than anything, but it couldn't be carried on.

"Clint, wait," Natasha said on a breath and Clint stopped immediately, head still hidden in the crook of her neck. Those words exited her mouth as a request and reached Clint's ears as an order. "we can't do this. Not now. There are kids here," Lowering her tone of voice, she added, "and one of them is awake."

"I understand" Clint said when he met her eyes. "It's okay. You take the spare bed, I'll take the couch." Natasha didn't have to fight back his decision as he asked, "Can I have one more kiss?"

Natasha caressed his hair and nodded, waiting for his lips to meet hers. Instead, his mouth went to put a kiss where he saw she was hurt, on the shoulder, and then he put another kiss right where she had the arrow pendant. It caused her to feel unexpected warmth growing inside her. Not because of lust but something greater and more intense. Her legs went weaker and her heart raced, as the two could feel. Her fingers combed Clint's hair when he rested his forehead on her chest, and the two stayed like that for a while. Natasha fit his head under her chin and sighed soundly. It amazed her how much they needed one another, sometimes just for the sake of needing someone to lean on.

"I missed you so much."

"I did too," he whispered back, pecking her lips.


	5. Chapter 5

Natasha was the first to awake in the morning, or at least she thought so. When she went to check on the kids, she saw that are all the papers that were on the wall the night before were gone and Christopher was sitting on the couch with red swollen eyes and his hand was shaking as he was writing on a notepad. Clint was sitting next to him, having his right arm wrapped around his shoulder, for the emotional support. Natasha didn't have to step any closer to know what was happening. Clint was helping Chris the same way he helped her when the nightmares were too scary and the secrets that were supposed to be secret resurfaced. He'd have Natasha sit next to him with a pen in hand so she could write what she was remembering. Like Chris, all she wrote was the names of the people she had killed, the way she had done it, when and where. Everything was exposed like a nerve, sensitive, and apparently writing it down seemed an effective way to ease down that horrible feeling.

"Let's take that tracer from you?" Natasha asked softly, ducking in front of the teenager.

He only nodded his head and left the notepad and the pen over the couch and walked after her to the bathroom. Natasha ordered him to sit on the floor and put a towel on his lap, to contain the blood she knew it'd draw from his wrist. She found a scalpel and a tweezers that she disinfected and before kneeling down before the boy, she threaded a needle and laid on top of the sink a bandage. Blood started dripping down Chris' wrist to the towel on his lap and he bit his lip and looked away. Natasha was trying to be careful and quick at the same time. With the help of the tweezers, she removed the small tracer that looked like a memory card and showed it to him. Chris breathed easily for the first time in his small life; he felt free. Natasha threw the tracer into the sink and started sewing the cut she had made on him.

"What if they come after us anyway?"

Natasha offered him a smile and assured him, "They won't. I have a good idea to get rid of this." As she was wrapping the bandage over his recently-sewed wound, she said "You'll have to help us. You have to convince the girl that you two are orphans, siblings, and that Clint and I are helping you. Do you think you can do that?"

Chris nodded his head and got up from the floor, preparing to leave the bathroom. He stopped by the door, and without looking back, he said, "Спасибо, Наташа." **(Thank you, Natasha.)**

"Пожалуйста." **(You're welcome.)**

"Come here, kid." Clint called, seeing the teen walking slowly into the small kitchenette, his hand over the bandage recently put on his wrist.

"My name's Christopher," Number One – Christopher – said.

Clint looked at Natasha and she nodded her head, "Ok, Chris, come here. Let's have breakfast." Opening his fridge, he continued, "I don't have much, but I guess we can make some peanut butter sandwiches."

"I don't know what peanut butter is."

"What?" Clint expressed, seemingly offended. He pulled a chair and said, "Just take a seat. How come you don't know what peanut butter is?"

Christopher smiled with his reaction and took a seat on the chair as Clint was bringing a jar of peanut butter and a spoon. Natasha smiled as well; Clint had a way with people. He didn't treat them differently no matter what trauma they had been through, he treated people as equal and normal. That was how he treated her after bringing her in to what used to be SHIELD.

The teen dipped the spoon inside the jar and then tasted the food paste. "Hmm," He hummed, "this 's good."

"See? Told ya!" Clint replied as excited as the kid who was tasting the food.

The little girl sneakily showed up in the room, looking confused. "C'mere," Chris called her, "come taste this."

"Where 're we?" She asked, opening her mouth to receive a spoonful of that paste that Chris was offering her.

"We're somewhere good. Clint and Natasha are helping us. You know I won't let anything bad happen to you, right? I'm your big brother."

"I don't remember your name. Or mine." The girl confessed with tears in her eyes, fearing that it'd be a bad thing not remembering it.

"It's okay. I'm Chris and your name is…" Chris looked helplessly at Clint and Natasha.

"Daniella," Natasha spoke, "your name is Daniella."

The girl nodded, assimilating that information. She seemed puzzled at first, but then her brain started to make her believe that she and that teen sitting there were siblings. "Give me mo'e of that, it's good."

Clint looked at Natasha and saw her letting out a deep relieved breath. The girl had believed it. Clint walked over to Natasha, leaving the two kids sharing a peanut butter jar.

"When you're in Italy," She grabbed his hand and put in his palm the small tracer she had removed from Chris. "can you get rid of this?"

"I will," Clint looked at his palm to see what it was and then he reached over to grab the notepad Chris had been writing on and showed it to her. "Fourteen-years-old and has killed twenty-two people. It twists my stomach to think that are people capable of turning children into murders and soldiers. Just like they did to you."

Natasha held Clint's face in both her hands and pressed her lips on his, "The world isn't always fair, we know it."

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**The story's coming to an end. Reviews are always nice. Cheers folks! xD**


	6. Chapter 6

**This is the last chapter. It is really great or anything, but it's what I managed to come up with. I only have plans now to continue my Sherlock one-shot fic, I may start one fanfic for NCIS: LA and if Florence is still up to it (I know she is, we just never start it) then yes, I might start another Avengers fanfiction.**

**Anyway, enjoy the last chapter.**

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In the morning of the next day Natasha got up quietly and started picking her clothes and dressing up along the way. In the previous day they had left the kids at the social services and the first thing that popped up on the computer of the services was their names, their identities. They were finally two people, like they deserved to be. Natasha and Clint chose them the names as if they were their own kids; Christopher Mason and Daniella Marie McGraw. Putting them as siblings would help them staying together and help out each other, with bigger dramas in their lives. Needless to say that after leaving Chris and Daniella, Clint and Natasha were on their own, with the house all by themselves and a longing aching to be consumed away.

Cautiously walking to the living room, Natasha peeked inside Clint's bag, checking what he had put in there for his mission in Italy. He surprised her by showing up being even quieter than she had been. "You really need to stop doing that. I always take everything I need."

"Do you really? Remember that time-"

Clint cut her speech by kissing her lips as he put his arms around her waist and kept her tightly close to his body. "I've heard that story hundreds of times."

"Apparently didn't serve as a lesson because you always leave something behind."

"Well, this time I know what I'm leaving behind, but I know I'm coming back for it." Again he pecked her lips and once he broke the kiss, his smile started fading away. "If you want to go to Russia and take down the Red Room can you at least wait until I'm back? I know you said you'd take this to Hill and Fury, but I know you."

Natasha smiled. He indeed knew her well. She wasn't thinking about going to Russia all alone, but she felt that she needed to do something. "I'm not going anywhere for now. I need time to find who Natasha Romanoff really is."

They shared one last kiss before Clint putting the strap of the duffel bag over his shoulder and start walking to the door. "Maybe you should go over to Stark's. He's got a floor for each one of us, you'll be safer there and will have access to a lot more information than here."

Natasha rolled her eyes as her hands travelled to each side of her waist. "And why would I want to go there?"

"Because I'll be going there after I come from Italy. I'm sure the Avengers will have a mission pretty soon. And… despite what you try to sell the others, you actually like Stark. And there's Pepper there, you two can have girls' talk-"

"_Girls' talk_, Clint? You better start walking out of that door." She said, teasingly trying to sound angry.

Before walking out the door, Clint looked back and cheekily said, "You've sent me three packs of gums, no explanation given. I'll find something to send you too."

The woman laughed and as she hushed, she something took over her and so she told him "Thanks for helping me."

"Anything for you, Nat. I've saved your life, you saved mine. And now we helped those kids. Please tell me you don't feel that you don't have any more debts to be settled 'cause I don't feel that-"

"Debts are for overly thoughtful people," She began. "right now I'm just a child figuring out who am I. If love's for children, then I'm child. And I want you to be around-" Clint couldn't resist coming back and stealing one more passionate kiss from her. "Go on now or you'll be late." Natasha didn't want him to leave, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt for another kiss. When she realized she had to let him go, she whispered. "Love you."

Clint sighed and looked helpless. "Don't do this to me, Tasha. I have to leave." One last kiss and he told her, "see you in three weeks. Love you."

Natasha did end up going to Stark's Tower (now the Avengers' Tower). But before leaving, she left Clint's bag prepared, just to prove him that he had to go because she couldn't bare being away from him any longer. And Clint did bring her something that didn't need any explanation; he was just hoping one answer. And her answer matched his wishes… She said yes.

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**One last review would be marvelous, if not, it's all the same to me by now. **


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